Folllow Me on Twitter

Thursday, April 30, 2015

Whether it’s a band or an artist that would sparkle a little
light in my ears, I know it’s going to be an adventure for me. And one of the
bands that have the sounds of the sparkle is Points North. The band have a huge
following in the West Coast area in California for opening bands such as UFO,
The Aristocrats, Michael Schenker, The Winery Dogs, and Al Di Meola to name a
few.

With a melodic and instrumental rock rhythm to their sound,
Points North have taken me by surprise. The band considers guitarist Eric
Barnett who was a finalist in the Superstar competition in 2008’s Guitar Player
magazine, Uriah Duffy on Bass from Whitesnake, and Kevin Aiello on drums. They
have a dosage of Prog, Jazz Fusion, and Hard Rock rolling into one giant milkshake
to enjoy serving.

This is their follow up to their 2012 debut, Road Less Traveled, and this is their
sole self-titled second album released this year on Magna Carta Records. This is also my introduction
to the band’s music. And from the moment I put the album on from start to
finish, I knew right away Points North have just blew the door down with a
cannonball at the right moment with an opening track just hits you with a
blistering introduction for the ride of your lifetime for Ignition.

With intense riffs, drumming, and thundering bass line, the
band are driving down the highway with a harder vibration. And it also
resembles the elements between Rush’s Moving
Pictures-era and The Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Inner Mounting Flame through different time changes by going from
fast to mellow mid-tempo rhythms that have unexpectedly make it a staggering
opener to kick things off with a big bang.

Uriah comes in center stage as he takes his Bass into higher
levels with the rising and ascending beats towards the Northstar. His Bass playing is a journey into the world of music as
he goes through the sounds of Geddy Lee and Stanley Clarke while Colorblind introduces vocals for the
first time, pays homage to the British
Steel-era of Judas Priest that shows that the trio can knock it out with a
homerun anthem.

The 7-minute epic Turning
Point (La Villa De Villers) shows Points North going into a driven and
erupt sound that go back into the realms of Rush’s glory days in the late ‘70s/early
‘80s. It feels almost as if the trio could have recorded this during the Hemispheres sessions. There are touches
of Prog, Hard, and Melodic Rock thrown into the passages and the midsection
shows a relaxing side on the highway before kicking back into the fast mileage
for a finale on the last few minutes.

On both Foxes &
Cougars and the roaring closer, Killer
Pounder, it’s a trip back in time of the ‘70s hard rock sounds that makes
you crank up the radio to a maximum level. With a blues-rock and Zeppelin-sque
touch on the two pieces, I could imagine the trio are having a great time with
this song filled with guitars cranking it up through the rhythm and riffs,
drums going into different areas and unexpected bass lines, that will have jaws
dropping at the exact moment.

This is my fourth time listening to their second
album. I was blown away the moment I put it on and was on the edge of my seat
and Uriah, Eric, and Kevin have done an excellent job creating the dynamics in
their instruments. And astoundingly, they are the real thing to explore into
their music and get ready for an undertaking voyage with Points North.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

I’ve been a champion of labels such as Cuneiform, MoonJune,
and Esoteric to name a few. And there’s one label that has been around for ten
years and that is the AltrOck label which is founded by Marcello Marinone and
Francesco Zago. I first became aware of the label when I was watching the documentary
of Jose Zegarra Holder and Adele Schmidt’s second documentary of the Romantic Warriors documentary covering
the Rock in Opposition movement (RIO) and I knew I became hooked into the label
right from the start in 2013.

And one of the bands that have taken me by surprise this
year along with La Coscienza Di Zeno, Alco Frisbass, Not a Good Sign, and Yugen
to name a few is a group from Louisville, Kentucky named Ut Gret. They are band
that have been around since the ‘80s and they have this strange combination of
Free Jazz, Rock in Opposition, and Medieval music rolled into one giant hot and
spicy burrito and two milkshakes to enjoy for lunch.

This is the band’s fourth album and despite the various
line-up changes, it considers; Jackie Royce on Bassoon, Contra-Basoon, and Flute,
Stevie Roberts on Keyboards, Samplers, Marimba, and Vibraphones, Gary Pahler on
Drums and Percussion, Steve Good on Clarinet and Bass Clarinet, and Joee Conroy
on Guitar, Chapman Stick, Fretless Bass, Acoustic 12-String, and Electronics.
And not to mention Cheyenne Mize on Vocals and Violin, Sydney Simpson on Double
Bass, and Gregory Acker on Sax, Flute, Percussion, and Didgeridoo.

There are 10 compositions on the album and the band really
do a lot of improvisations throughout their music with difficult time changes
that had the hair on the back of my neck go up. They take those elements of the
three genres combined also with the Canterbury scene that makes it well checked
and well done. I can hear the sounds of King Crimson, Soft Machine in which one
of the tracks is a tribute to the late, great Hugh Hopper, Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica-era,
Univers Zero, and of course not to mention, Gryphon and it’s perfect
inspirations that makes the tracks an adventure into those wondering touches.

I also love their usage of the Mellotron in which the
mysterious captures the essences on the instrumental pieces and of course the
Bassoon in which Jackie Royce is channeling the sounds of UZ’s Michel Berckmans.
It creates the tension for the dramatic moments to create the atmosphere and
almost like a film score for Bunuel’s short films and the touches of Chamber
and Prog, can be a darker and tense motion that will shivers down your spine
that will see where they would go into next.

I had a great time listening to Ut Gret’s Ancestors' Tale. And I’ll admit, it’s
not an easy album to listen to. And with a couple of listens about two times, they really
capture those elements have done something out of the ordinary. And with the genres of Medieval, Classical, RIO, and Jazz. So if you are
ready to explore the sounds of the four touches, then look
no further and enjoy the adventures of Ut Gret’s fourth album. You will not be
disappointed to have a Burrito and a Milkshake to listen to.

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Since their formation seven years ago, Twilight Motion is
for me, one of the most captivating electronic bands to come out
of France. With a dosage of Trip Hop and Industrial music rolled into one excellent smoothie beverage, they really brought the concept and ideas to the table and almost produce a soundtrack for the 22nd century on what is about to
come next.

That and their second album released this year called The Blind Eye in which it is a follow up
to their 2011 debut Dark City, Twilight Motion have released an advanced
yet visionary integrity that the group have done. With all of the samples and loops filled with Bass, Drums, and the Keyboard Machines to go together into
one area, you can quite expect what you will hear from the moment you listen to
their second album, to be prepared for something out of the ordinary that will
make your eyebrows light up!

The trio considers Etienne Rousseau on Keyboards/Machines, Julien
Nourtier on Drums/Machines, and Francis Lambert on Bass/Machines. And you can quite imagine
Twilight Motion writing a score for a sci-fi film that would be on the
edge of your seat and the album itself is the ultimate trip worth exploring
into.

With the electronic sounds going into hyper speed overdrive,
twisted/ominous atmospheres, erupted yet increasing maximum power, the trio
really go in a higher level showing no sign of stopping to see where the car is
going to take them into which part of the pieces they will embark on next in
their compositions. It can be at times chaotic and right in front of your face
to have your jaws completely dropped to the floor with some unexpected moments
that will make you get ready for an adventure you will never forget.

As each of the beats have different per minutes, Twilight
Motion have created wonders with some brainstorming ideas and they have nailed
it down. This is my fourth time listening to The Blind Eye, and it took a good while to get into. And then on
the third time I listened to it, I was hooked in from the moment I listened to
the album from beginning and right into the very end.

Now I have to admit, I’m not a wild Trip Hop
& Industrial music fan, but this is a band that really put me on the edge
of my seat almost like a roller-coaster ride filled with mind-blowing music. And while this my introduction to Twilight Motion’s music, this
album as I’ve mentioned earlier in my introduction, a soundtrack to the 22nd
century and very much as if they could have done a score to a dystopian sci-fi
film that would have given Ridley Scott’s approval.

So if you are ready for an adventure of Electronic, Trip
Hop, and Industrial music, then buckle your seatbelts for an excellent yet thrilling ride of Twilight Motion.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Among its followers including John Peel who produced their
sole self-titled second album on his label, Dandelion Records and Julian Cope
who did the Danskrocksampler compilation eleven years ago on his Head Heritage
site, Burnin’ Red Ivanhoe were the band that took the Jazz Rock genre into
another level in their hometown of Denmark since their formation in 1967. That
and their third album, W.W.W. originally
released in 1971 on Dandelion Records and reissued from the good people from
Esoteric Recordings this year, shows how much Burnin’ Red Ivanhoe were way
ahead of their time and often overlooked in the Progressive Rock genre.

Recorded in just three days at Rosenberg Studio at
Copenhagen in the fall of 1971, the album is somewhat a conceptual storyline based
on a book by Sir Walter Scott who wrote a novel about on the tale of Sir
Wilfred of Ivanhoe who was in a relationship between two Women (Rebecca and
Lady Rowena). Rebecca was more of herself and center of attention whilst Rowena
was noble towards him and fitted Ivanhoe’s position.

The music itself with its dosage of Psychedelic beauty and
Jazz Fusion combined into one, is spot on brilliant. 2nd Floor Croydon starts off with a mourning organ,
minor guitar chords, and flute along with Ole Fick’s vocals setting the tone in
which it has this reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s A Saucerful of Secrets-era and a group called Ainigma for the first
minute and ten seconds.

Before the thumping bass done by Jess Staer and Bo Thrige
Andersen’s drums head into a climbing rhythm section. And then Kim Menzer’s flute solo
followed by Jess and Bo along with founder Karsten Vogel’s organ, go into an
amazing midsection improve and it really shows the band going into an amazing
grooveing as Ole’s vocal which almost reminded me of Steve Gould from Rare Bird, his guitar helps them out into the stars and the wah-wah’s
galore from Menzer.

The title track has a surreal Avant-Garde flavor to the
piece almost as if they were doing a score to one of Alejandro Jordorowsky’s
1970 cult western classic, El Topo. It’s
Free Jazz like no other that the band go into more of the creative free rein in
their instruments, but very much Spacey and challenging as it segues into Avez Vous Kaskelainen?

This is where Burnin’ Red Ivanhoe are heading off into space
for a brilliant jam going into almost a Canterbury sound resembling the sounds
of Gong and bits of early Hawkwind thrown in for a journey into the outer
limits. But then all of a sudden on Kaske-vous
Karsemose, Karsten is playing some brilliant melodies on his Organ as he
along with Bo and Ole play the riff for a couple of minutes in a different time
signature. There is some ominous and
sinister riffs that they do and makes you feel that you aren’t alone and the
pummeling beats just sends you into an unexpected jaw-dropper.

And then, Burnin’ Red Ivanhoe take a break from their
instrumental compositions as they go into relaxation mode and go into a
psych-jazz pop atmosphere in a mid-tempo rhythm on All About All while going into the vibration of everything on what’s
been happening, isn’t a fairytale and getting out of there towards the Oblong Serenade. Karsten is going
through various motions on his saxophone in a whimsical and humorous touch to
it and he’s adding the color to the movements on the composition.

The closing
track, Cucumber-Porcupine, in which
both Ole and Jess do an ostinato riff between each other followed by the sax
solo and a vocalization of the bouncing ball to singing to the la-la’s, that
makes it an excellent finale and fading off into the sunset.

The Esoteric reissue is a gem of a kind. In the booklet
liner notes done by Malcolm Dome from Classic Rock Magazine and Metal Hammer,
it talks about the making of the album, formation of the band, and an interview
with Karsten Vogel. So if you want to explore more of the obscure gems as if
you are going into search for a Treasure
Island-esque search of the lost and overlooked albums of the Progressive
Rock genre, this is the band worth exploring.

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

This review is a special tribute to the late great Daevid
Allen. I remember hearing Gong’s music on the Prog Archives website ten years
ago and I became hooked into their sound from the Canterbury sounds and the
Space Rock genre, but mixed in with Avant-Garde and Jazz Fusion rolled into one
like no other. It was like something coming in from another planet and
exploring into this amazing and surreal world of the Pot Head Pixies.

This year, the reissue of Camembert Electrique, which was originally released back in 1971 on
the BYG Actuel label and then reissued when they were signed to Virgin Records
for a cheaper price for 59p at the time they were working on their fifth album,
You. Their second album was recorded
for only ten days at the Strawberry Studios in which its now known as the Chateau d’Herouville from June to September of that
year and it’s this combination of surrealism, ambient, bizarre, weird, and
mind-boggling adventure that would later become the basis for the Radio Gnome
trilogy.

From the radio transmissions frequency of the introductions of
Radio Gnome and seguing into the
heavy guitar/bass riff of a psych-proto-punk sounds for You Can’t Kill Me featuring Didier Malherbe’s sax and intense drum
work by Pip Pyle and a psych freakout guitar solo to go along, makes the song
the perfect way to start off on a journey into space.

And then on the organ-driven humoristic touch as if Daevid
is giving a sermon inside a galactic church with I’ve Bin Stoned Before as the mood suddenly changes to an increase
tempo that have a lullaby sound as it goes into an homage to the Rolling
Stones’ 2000 Man on Mister Long Shanks: O Mother. But it’s
Gilli Smyth with the spoken word and space whisper coming into the picture with
the ambient/atmospheric voyages on I Am
Your Fantasy.

The lyrics have a weird touch, but it fits perfectly as the
music sets the tone as Gilli nails it on the vocalizations as the thumping sax
wah-wah sinister intensity of Dynamite,
features the driven section of the rhythm and on I Am Your Animal is Smyth pushing the envelope of the sexual fantasies
and instruments creates the tension on what’s going on and they nailed it!

And You Tried So Hard reminded
me of NEU and Captain Beefheart’s Safe As
Milk-era for the first minute and fifty-three seconds and then moves into
the laid-back psychedelic on what the person can choose between love, choice on
what to do, being strong, and how it can be wrong. But for both Fohat Digs Holes in Space and Tropical Fish / Serene, is the band flying into the space rock improvisations, but
carrying a dosage of the Canterbury touch with some Zappa-sque vibes into the
mix.I have listened to Camembert
Electrique a dozen times and this is for me one of my favorite Gong albums
that I would play whenever I would get into the mood of excitement and
weirdness inside me. On the reissue that Charly Records have reissued this year, is in a mini LP format with the inner sleeve, original lyrics, and liner notes by Mark Paytress about the making of the album.

There is no denying where the Pot Head Pixies would later
go into next as they would enter into the Flying Teapots for the trilogy is
about to come next into their work.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Hailing from Sweden, Omrade are a duo that have this
interesting of a spacey trip-hop adventure between the Avant-Garde sounds of
Ambient, Electronica, Post-Rock, Industrial music in which it has this
captivating combination, but with an ominous and haunting atmosphere which is
evidential on their debut album, Edari
released on the My Kingdom Music label this year.

When I was listening to their debut album, I can hear the
sounds of Ulver, Manes, and Gazpacho. And also it reminded me of something that
they could have used as if they had done it as a score of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. It was almost as if they
music have added the bits and pieces of the puzzle on what is to come on the
characters plot twist as if the series had continued on with more of the who,
what, when, and why.

It has the sounds of the futuristic atmosphere and also,
dystopian at the same time of what the cities have now become a disturbing
scenery and Omrade’s music sets it of where the characters go into. There are
moments where its powerful, calming, softer, and eruptive at the same time and
not to mention the spoken word elements thrown in.

But, there are four highlights on the album that is worth
taken note of. On Satellite and Narrow, which
features Asphodel on the vocals, begins with a minor-like piano chords followed
by which almost features the sounds of Tuvan throat singing as Asphodel comes
in with her vocals that just sends shivers down my spine on the double-tracking
vocals as the electronic trip-hop industrial metal sounds come in that knocks
the door down with a powerful punch, makes it hypnotic.

Meanwhile, Åben Dør is
a strange and twisted track that you can imagine being inside of the mental
asylum and hearing the sounds of the patients whimpering, screaming, and
screeching out in pain. It’s almost as if Omrade were paying tribute by working
with The Residents as if they were going into the Trip Hop section.

The opening track Mótsögn starts off with a calming
ambient vocalization and ominous introduction. It has calming vocals, blaring
trumpet solos and later, a laid-back sax with a jazzy feel, Omrade gives the
listener go into the darker side with a moody and an intentional mood to see
where they would take the listener into next.

Ottaa Sen in which it closes the album it
is perhaps a brilliance of an ascending finale. Synths setting the introduction
for a futuristic atmosphere a-la Blade
Runner style with a Vangelis touch to it for an introduction. Then it
climbs up to the snarling vocals and the electronic Industrial sounds filled
with death metal and heading off into the middle-eastern midsection and clean
vocals to close the composition to see where the road will go to next.

Edari is not an easy album to
listen to from start to finish, but what they duo has done, is they really got something up their sleeves
to go into those worlds and they nailed it perfectly to a “T”. It is an
interesting combination between Industrial, Avant-Garde, Electronic, and Trip
Hop rolled into one and what Omrade have accomplished very well into the sounds of their first album.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

This 3-CD/2-DVD and Vinyl set is a goldmine for any fan of ELP in this
amazing Super Deluxe Edition that is almost a trip down memory lane. And for
me, as a geek, I could remember getting some Hanukkah money on the fourth night
and buying this album that featured the late great H.R. Giger's artwork and just being blown away in the winter of 1998 before Christmas started and buying
this album and being hooked into the world of their music.

At the time, it was a crowning achievement in 1973 when
their fourth studio album, Brain Salad
Surgery was released. And despite some of the rock critics despising them
and the famous joke, “How do you spell pretentious? E-L-P.” There was no stop
sign for them and were the people’s band during that time. It was also their
last real album before moving into the waters with an orchestra, which I won’t
cover on.

On here, there is a large booklet featuring photos of the
band and the original tapes also. With liner notes done by Chris Welch which
included interviews with the band and Jakko Jakszyk who did the 5.1 mix, its
almost like a stepping into a time machine and revisiting the memories of the
band that would never back down despite the criticism.

The 5.1 and New Stereo Mixes that Jakko has done on here, is
magnificent and I can hear material on the original album that were buried and
hidden on here, come to life and in front as if my eyebrows went up and can’t
believe what I was hearing. The great thing about the Super Deluxe Edition set
is that included are both the original album, alternate versions and b-sides
along with the NME Flexidisc experts, and the new stereo mix, shows that they
don’t want to rewrite history, but staying true to the original and never
letting go of the past.

The opening fanfare of their take of William Blake’s hymn
and Hubert Harry’s music of Jerusalem which
it was banned by the BBC for being blasphemous, makes it a perfect introduction
featuring Keith’s organ and synths, Carl’s militant turn dynamic drum work
along with tubular bells followed by Greg’s amazing vocals, sets the tone on
what’s to come. You could tell the band can push the envelope on handling one
of Blake’s hymns and would have given the master himself a big stamp of
approval of their take of his hymn.

Toccata is an
eruptive yet blistering adventure on another take of Argentinian composer,
Alberto Ginastera’s 1st Piano Concerto in the Fourth movement, is
where the band are in ramming speed. Both Keith and Carl are on fire on this
using the Moog’s and Electronic drum kit with synthesized effects to use in
different bars in the percussion section in where Palmer himself that have a
haywire effect that would make listener’s jump on the electronic sounds.

Then the band take a break and go into a soothing and
relaxing yet romantic ballad from Greg Lake as his shares his vocal touches on
the acoustic wonders with Still You Turn
Me On and the wah-wah sounds to give it a psychedelic vibration while they
get into the Ragtime movement. The band also has this excellent sense of humor
with Benny the Bouncer.

Greg’s cockney accent, Keith’s homage to Scott Joplin, and
Carl using the brushing sounds on the drums followed by a bar room brawl with
glass breaking and you can imagine the scenery of drag-out knock down fight
inside the bar as the band keeps on going. But also, it has a 1920s feel that
makes you feel right at home that the band wished they had recorded in that
time period and have your feet tapping for more.

Then, we come to the epic of all epics of the 30-minute
suite of Karn Evil 9. This is where
ELP deliver the real goods to us in their masterpiece of a setting in a parallel
dystopian universe where the Machines have taken over the human race and it
takes place inside a carnival as we are witnessing a battle between good and
evil. And I won’t go into further detail on spoilers, but this is such a
brilliant epic to get your seatbelt ready for that almost a movie inside your
head on what is happening in the story.

Alongside the 3-CDs, the 2-DVDs and the sixth being the
original Vinyl LP, is a treat. The fourth DVD features both the original and
5.1/new stereo mix and the fifth DVD is a documentary along with a gallery which features memorabilia slide show. And the Manticore Special that originally appeared
on the Old Grey Whistle Test in which the band was doing a European tour in
1973 at the time they were promoting the album.

Brain Salad Surgery is
the album along with Pink Floyd’s Dark
Side of the Moon, refusing to die. The stereo remix is spectacular and it
deserved to be cleaned up and Jakko has done an amazing accomplishment on what
he did. So if you are ready to head back into the Carnival for the show that
will never end, this Super Deluxe Edition is a must have and recommended for
any Prog and ELP fan to delve into.

Thursday, April 9, 2015

In the words of Daevid Allen in wearing a knitted Teapot hat, "What is the legacy of Canterbury Bands to Future Generations? Thinky music in black shiny shoes." Adele Schmidt and Jose Zegarra Holder are for me, almost the Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson of filmmaking. And they have come a long way
since with the releases of the first two Romantic Warriors documentary of the
Progressive Music saga including one of my favorites covering the Rock in
Opposition genre and have made my wish lists bigger every time I watch their
documentaries. This year they are covering the Canterbury scene and it is a
wonderful take of the genre that has the sounds of Jazz Fusion, Whimsical
Lyrics, and odd time changes.

The documentary does a wonderful job on the history on the
genre that started back in the 1960s with The Wilde Flowers and listening to rare demos and recordings that they did along with others, would start the scene off with a bang. And then, beginnings of bands including the Soft Machine and Caravan got the ball rolling
in the swinging psychedelic-era. This was a challenge for Schmidt and Holder to
cover the genre and explore what the scene was like and they have done their
homework very well.

There is also interviews including Bill MacCormick (Quiet
Sun, Matching Mole), Robert Jan Stips (Supersister), Phil Miller (Delivery, National Health, Hatfield and the
North), Brian Hopper, Roy Babbington (Nucleus, Soft Machine), Didier Thibault (MGP), Richard Sinclair (Caravan and
Hatfield and the North), Dirk “Mont” Campbell (Egg), Didier Malherbe (Gong),
and the late great Daevid Allen in which appears to be his last interview on
the documentary. Despite the condition he was in, he still has the great sense
of humor and gave it 100% and almost welcoming the audience, by saying “Welcome my friends to planet Gong. My name
is the Divided Alien.” “I was an Angel’s Egg which god ate for Breakfarts!”

You could tell Daevid still has the humor in him and it’s a wonderful
and emotional tribute to him and knowing the legacy of the Pot Head Pixies will
live on in future generations to come. There also experts that talk about the
Canterbury scene including Aymeric Leroy (Canterbury Expert), Leonardo Pavkovic
(Founder of MoonJune Records), and Bruce Lee Gallanter (Founder of Downtown
Music Gallery) who help describe the history about the scene and the history.

There’s also some great bands that were mentioned including
alongside Soft Machine, Gong, and Caravan, bands like: Hatfield and the North,
Egg, Supersister, Delivery, Quiet Sun, Moving Gelatine Plates, The Muffins, and
Gilgamesh to name a few. And they also covered the bands today that are
carrying the torch of the Canterbury scene including: Planeta Imaginaro and Forgas
Band Pheonomena in which they are part of the Cuneiform label, Syd Arthur, The
Wrong Object, Soft Machine Legacy, and photos including Phlox (Estonia), Machine and the Synergetic
Nuts (Japan), Fulano (Chile), and Anaid (France).

The new bands are carrying the spirit of Canterbury as if
the torch is still lit and keeping the flaming fire burning forever into the
near future. And the rare footage is a treat to dive deep in the waters to
watch the bands including various line-ups of the Soft Machine from the ‘60s
into the mid ‘70s, Caravan, Gong, Moving Gelatine Plates performing at the Le Bourget Pop Music Festival in 1970, and Hatfield performing on a French TV show
in 1973 with Robert Wyatt as a guest vocalist that will get your wishlist
bigger as the size of Mount Rushmore.

I have watched Romantic
Warriors III about eight times now and I have to say that Jose and Adele
have done an incredible research and it’s great to see how the bands pushed the
boundaries of the Progressive genre. So if you are ready to enjoy and explore
the music of the Canterbury sound, buckle your seat belt into the Flying Teapot
and fly into the world of the Land of Grey and Pink meeting the Pot Head Pixies
and being blown away of the Moon in June along with some National Health, then
this is the documentary to explore.

Thursday, April 2, 2015

2015 is off to an amazing start. Amazing bands and artists
from the realms of Steven Wilson, Beardfish, La Coscienza Di Zeno, Sanguine
Hum, and Alco Frisbass to name a few, are the names that have got the wheel on
the wagon rolling. Now the wagon is ready for another adventure and this time
its Unreal City’s turn to shine.

Since their formation seven years ago in Parma, Unreal City
are the real deal in the Italian Progressive Rock sound that are following in
the footsteps of the masters and show no sign of stopping after the release of
their debut album back in 2013 called, La
Crudelta di Aprile. This year, they are back with a follow up to their
debut with an album entitled, il Paese
Del Tramonto in which it translates to, The
Country Sunset.

I’ve always been a huge fan of the Italian Progressive Rock
sound from bands like; Le Orme, Banco, PFM, Not a Good Sign, Metamorfosi, and
Museo Rosenbach to name a few. When I first heard Unreal City’s music two years
ago when I was in College, I was completely on the edge of my seat with my
eyebrows widening up being in awe and touched of what they have brought to the
table.

The classical sounds, the British and Italian Prog
inspirations, and the Symphonic elements throwing in, almost made it sound like
they were doing a score for a movie. From beginning to the end, il Paese Del Tramonto is the
continuation, but more for a movie as if they had done to set for both of the
directors in the realms between Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci while Fabio
Frizzi conducts the group and in awe of what they are doing.

Opening, Ouverture:
Obscurus fio starts with backward tapes that increases the void followed by
a synth to capture it and the piano comes in with a concerto-like introduction
followed by a string section. And the drums, Mellotron, and Bass come knocking
the door down as the rhythm begins along with a Guitar chord and Moog solo. It
has this epic-like introduction and a surreal tone that captures the essence of
Pink Floyd, ELP, and Banco Del Mutuo Sorcosso’s Darwin-era.

And then it segues into Oniromanzia
(il Paese del Tramonto) in which the choir mellotron plays the same melody
followed by drums, church organ and guitar. It has this wonderful reminiscent
of Goblin that Unreal City pay tribute to for an introduction with the spooky
sounds that Tarasconi does. And the keyboards just go into some improvisations
with an amazing Hammond solo and the synths also. I have to admit, Unreal City
have shown a lot in their sounds.

The ominous Caligari
begins with a sinister and haunting atmospheric introduction. Francesca
Zanetta’s guitar sets the tone in a style of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells as Emanuele’s keyboards go
into a ghostly vibe and then it has an orchestral ascending roar. It then has a
mid-tempo rhythm with a catchy melody with some unexpected twists until the
very end Zanetta goes into her guitar structures of Robert Fripp-sque finale as
Unreal City pay tribute to the finale of both King Crimson and Murple.

La Meccanica
Dell’ombra has this mind-blowing introduction between Emanuele using both
keyboards and a theremin that kicks off into high gear. It has this combination
between middle-eastern and folk-like melodies thanks to guest violinist Fabio
Biale. Followed by the improvisation solo from Zanetta, Tarasconi, and Bedostri
laying down on the beats on the drums, it has a softer side and then back into
Tarasconi keeping the groove in as he takes his Hammond into the waters to
close it off for an amazing solo finale as the music reaches a climbing end.

Il Nome di Lei has
this interesting combination between Pulsar, Pink Floyd, and Locanda Delle Fate
as Zanetta is in the spirits of David Gilmour with a classical Harpsichord
thrown in while their homage to Deep Purple golden-era on Lo Schermo di Pietra (Kenosis) is a blistering yet driven
composition. I can hear the hard rock, ballad, and intense changes like a car
going at 300 miles per hour that you could imagine Unreal City could have
recorded this back in 1973.

Then we come to the 20-minute 4-part suite, Ex Tenebrae Lux, shows Unreal City their
masterpiece. Various changes between ambient spacey voyages into Jazz-Funk
groove, Vocals, Violin, Organ, Concerto Piano, homage to Gentle Giant, and back
into the harmonic/orchestral rock sounds that gives it a warmth closure at the
last few minutes.

This is Unreal City's finest hour since their debut and I was blown away from the moment I put it on and knowing they have accomplished well.
The Rock Progressivo Italiano scene is getting stronger each time something
special and magical has happened, and Unreal City are one of the most finest
bands to come out the genre. Highly recommended and worth exploring along with
their debut album also.

Facebook Badge

About Me

I'm a blogger/freelance writer from Houston, TX who writes album reviews because I enjoy it. Even though, I'm not the best writer, there is no stop sign for me. I have a love of Progressive Rock music, Jazz Fusion, and Early Heavy Metal music from the '60s to the early '80s. I went to HCC (Houston Community College) for nine years and have completed my degree in Music in Performance: Jazz Studies. I've been writing Progressive Rock and Symphonic Metal reviews starting back in 2008 on my blogsite and it never gets old.